front matter
John Thompson’s book, Data for All, for which I am pleased to write a few words of introduction, is one of the more interesting ones I have read recently. I am not yet entirely sure that I agree with everything he writes—there are some pretty strong statements about individuals and companies in here—but I am very glad I read it. It is one of the most honest, direct, pull-no-punches sources on one of the most important personal issues of our time. That issue is, “Should I undertake extraordinary efforts to prevent companies—tech and otherwise—from getting access to my personal data?”
I think the answer is yes, but my own thinking has evolved somewhat on this issue. I love John’s personal and historical stories in this book, so I will provide one too. In 1998 I saw the movie An Enemy of the State with Will Smith in the starring role and an excellent cast overall. I highly recommend seeing the movie, even if you are not interested in data privacy. But if you are, it raises a particularly interesting set of issues. Will Smith plays a lawyer named Bobby Dean. He accidentally ends up with some highly damaging information about a government intelligence agency. A corrupt member of that agency is able to use all of the data about Dean to track him down instantaneously, tap into all his calls, plant all sorts of false information about him, and generally make his life miserable.